Whatever disappointment may linger about England from the Euros, and whatever doubts some may have about the suitability of Sam Allardyce for the role of England manager, there are more questions about this Slovakia.

The squad England face in Trnava on Sunday evening has been ravaged by injuries and controversy, while the manager Jan Kozak this week turned on his own football federation.

Kozak's preferred method, particularly against bigger sides, is to sit deep and absorb pressure, looking to strike down the flanks on the counter-attack. It brought him a victory over Spain in qualifiers for the Euros, as well as the 0-0 against England in St Etienne.

Slovakia manager Jan Kozak has turned on his own federation ahead of Sunday's encounter

Vladimir Weiss is absent from the squad that is set to take on England on Sunday evening

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But here he will be without the two wingers who ensured that his side offered at least some sort of threat on the break. The former Manchester City winger Vladimir Weiss is one of three experienced players to withdraw with injury – along with the midfielders Ondrej Duda and Patrik Hrosovsky – while the Fenerbahce winger Miroslav Stoch, once of Chelsea, has been mysteriously omitted.

Stoch is a volatile character whose career has path has rarely strayed far from trouble but Kozak, who is himself noted for a temper than once saw him throw an opposing goalkeeping coach through a tactics board, refused to elaborate on the specific reasons for his absence.

'I gave him a lot of space,' he said, 'but there were difficulties. But he helped us and I appreciate him as a footballer. However, after Euro 2016, a situation came up and because of it I cannot imagine working with him again.'

Stoch himself seems reconciled to his exile. 'He cannot imagine cooperating with me again and I cannot imagine cooperating with him,' he said.

Miroslav Stoch, once of Chelsea, has been mysteriously omitted from the Slovakia squad

Midfielder Ondrej Duda, a key player for Slovakia, will also not be available against England

Other players, though, are less happy. 'All through the qualifiers and the Euros I was saying we are a great crew here,' the midfielder Juraj Kucka said on his Instagram page.

'One team, that sticks together, so that is why I would like to say something about this situation, too. Mino [Stoch] is not the only one who made a mistake and I don't mean only the players. He is the only one who suffers for something that happened. Maybe his past lies behind it, but I think that his past was explained a long time ago.'

Stoch wasn't the only target of Kozak's irritation. He admits he is troubled by the age of his squad and what he sees as the lack of players coming through to replace them, something highlighted by the fact he will probably end up using the left-back Dusan Svento on the left side of midfield.

Juraj Kucka is one of a number of players who are as unhappy as Stoch with the situation

But he is also irritated by the Slovakian Football Federation, which set the price of tickets at between €28 (£23) and €58 (£48), when national team games usually cost €10 (£8)-€20 (£16). In addition, fewer than 8000 tickets for the 18,000-capacity stadium were on sale to fans, the rest going to sponsors.

'We play football for the people and we want as many fans as possible to come to the stadium,' Kozak said.

'But the price of tickets is what it is. People who want to go to the stadium cannot, so the English fans will make the atmosphere because there will be more of them. That's sad.'

Kozak has complained about the price of tickets and the atmosphere that will cause